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AXIS Recommended Equipment

A Quick Guide to Hardware and Operating Systems

(Revised May 6th 2013)

What's changed recently?

Intel will introduce its latest processors (codename Haswell) for desktop and notebook computers on June 3rd 2003 and we expect them to offer a 10% improvement over today's chips.

The current generation chip for desktop and notebook computers is codenamed Ivy Bridge and like Haswell, it offer up to 4 cores. 6 Core Ivy Bridge processors are expected for desktop computers in Q3 2013.

For servers and workstations the Sandy Bridge-EP series are at the top of our list.

AMD is no longer competitive for AXIS users.

Advice

Please call Phil Gold (416-250-2596) for up to the minute information or advice, since the situation changes quickly.

Processors

AXIS makes strong demands on the floating-point capabilities of your processor, so we will always advise you to buy the best floating-point performance you can afford.

1. Notebooks

Intel Quad-Core Chips

We recommend these Core i7 chips (Ivy Bridge) for the highest possible performance in a laptop today when using distributed processing.

  • Core i7-3940XM    3.00 GHz
  • Core i7-3920XM    2.90 GHz
  • Core i7-3840QM    2.80 GHz
  • Core i7-3820QM    2.70 GHz
  • Core i7-3740QM    2.70 GHz
  • Core i7-3720QM    2.60 GHz
  • Core i7-3635QM    2.40 GHz

2. Desktops

Intel Six-Core Chips

The following chips (Sandy Bridge-E) carry our top desktop recommendation.

  • Core i7-3970X     3.50 GHz
  • Core i7-3960X     3.30 GHz
  • Core i7-3930        3.20 GHz

Intel Quad-Core Chips

The following chips (Ivy Bridge) also carry our top desktop recommendation

  • Core i7-3770K     3.50 GHz
  • Core i7-3770        3.40 GHz
  • Core i5-3570K     3.40 GHz
  • Core i5-3570        3.40 GHz

3. Workstations and Servers

Racks of dual-processor servers are a popular choice for scaling AXIS under Distributed Processing and Grid Computing. Where space is at a premium, Blade servers do an excellent job. Please note that disk drives capacity and speed are critical in these applications – please call for details.

Intel Xeon

For dual-processor servers and workstations, our top recommendation is for the new 8-core chips Sandy Bridge-EP series. These servers hold 16 cores.

  • Xeon E5-2687W 3.10 GHz 8 Cores (for workstations only)
  • Xeon E5-2690     2.90 GHz 8 Cores
  • Xeon E5-2680     2.70 GHz 8 Cores
  • Xeon E5-2670     2.60 GHz 8 Cores
  • Xeon E5-2660     2.20 GHz 8 Cores (if low power consumption is a requirement)

For dual-processor servers we also recommend 5600 series Xeon 6-core processors (Westmere-EP) which run at high clock speeds. These servers hold 12 cores.

  • Xeon X5690        3.46 GHz 6 Cores
  • Xeon X5680        3.33 GHz 6 Cores

Note: Due to the extreme workload placed on the drive systems in multi-processor servers and the availability of higher clock rates in smaller servers, we strongly recommend 2 processor servers over 4 processor or 8 processor servers.

Run Times (Recommended processors are shown with an asterix *)

This table should be used as a rough guide only.

Here are some estimated run times for a sample AXIS batch job:

Notebook Processors

Clock Speed

Time

Core 2 Quad Q9100   

(quad-core)

2.26 GHz

  575 secs

Core 2 Quad QX9300

(quad-core)

2.53 GHz

  520 secs

Core i5-540M       

(dual-core)

2.53 GHz

  810 secs

Core i7-620M     

(dual-core)

2.67 GHz

  760 secs

Core i7-640M     

(dual-core)

2.80 GHz

  727 secs

Core i5-2520M   

(dual-core)

2.50 GHz

  690 secs

Core i5-2540M   

(dual-core)

2.60 GHz

  665 secs

Core i7-2620M   

(dual-core)

2.70 GHz

  644 secs

Core i7-2640M   

(dual-core)

2.80 GHz

  625 secs

Core i7-3520M

(dual-core)

2.90 GHz

  550 secs

Core i7-Q920XM 

(quad-core)

2.00 GHz

  510 secs

Core i7-2630QM

(quad-core)

2.00 GHz

  435 secs

Core i7-2635QM

(quad-core)

2.00 GHz

  435 secs

Core i7-2670QM

(quad-core)

2.20 GHz

  397 secs

Core i7-2675QM

(quad-core)

2.20 GHz

  397 secs

Core i7-2720QM

(quad-core)

2.20 GHz

  397 secs

Core i7-2820QM

(quad-core)

2.30 GHz

  382 secs

Core i7-2760QM

(quad-core)

2.40 GHz

  366 secs

Core i7-2860QM

(quad-core)

2.50 GHz

  354 secs

Core i7-2920XM

(quad-core)

2.50 GHz

  354 secs

Core i7-2960XM

(quad-core)

2.70 GHz

  330 secs

Core i7-3610QM

(quad-core)

2.30 GHz

  348 secs

Core i7-3615QM

(quad-core)

2.30 GHz

  348 secs

Core i7-3635QM*

(quad-core)

2.40 GHz

  334 secs

Core i7-3720QM*

(quad-core)

2.60 GHz

  310 secs

Core i7-3740QM*

(quad-core)

2.70 GHz

  300 secs

Core i7-3820QM*

(quad-core)

2.70 GHz

  300 secs

Core i7-3840QM*

(quad-core)

2.80 GHz

  291 secs

Core i7-3920XM*

(quad-core)

2.90 GHz

  283 secs

Core i7-3940XM*

(quad-core)

3.00 GHz

  276 secs

 

Desktop Processors

Clock Speed

Time

Core i7-920       

(quad-core)

2.66 GHz

  440 secs

Core i7-860       

(quad-core)

2.80 GHz

  430 secs

Core i7-870       

(quad-core)

2.93 GHz

  420 secs

Core i7-940       

(quad-core)

2.93 GHz

  410 secs

Core i7-950      

(quad-core)

3.06 GHz

  395 secs

Core i7-960       (quad-core) 3.20 GHz   395 secs

Core i7-965  

(quad-core)

3.20 GHz

  380 secs

Core i7-975     

(quad core)

3.33 GHz

  372 secs

Core i5-2500   

(quad-core)

3.30 GHz

  317 secs

Core i7-2600

(quad-core)

3.40 GHz

  310 secs

Core i7-2700

(quad-core)

3.50 GHz

  303 secs

Core i7-3820

(quad-core)

3.60 GHz

  280 secs

       
Core i7-970      (six-core) 3.20 GHz   265 secs
Core i7-980X   (six-core) 3.33 GHz   255 secs
Core i7-990X   (six-core) 3.46 GHz   248 secs
       

Core i5-3570*   

(quad-core)

3.40 GHz

  268 secs

Core i5-3570K*   

(quad-core)

3.40 GHz

  268 secs

Core i7-3770*   

(quad-core)

3.40 GHz

  268 secs

Core i7-3770K*   (quad-core) 3.50 GHz   262 secs
       

Core i7-3930*   

(six-core)

3.20 GHz

  225 secs

Core i7-3960X*   

(six-core)

3.30 GHz

  218 secs

Core i7-3970X*   

(six-core)

3.50 GHz

  206 secs

 

 

 

 

Servers / Workstations

Clock Speed

Time

Opteron 2356

(2 quad-core processors)

2.30 GHz

  370 secs

Opteron 2360

(2 quad-core processors)

2.5 GHz

  340 secs

 

 

 

Xeon E5345  

(2 quad-core processors)

2.33 GHz

  330 secs

Xeon X5355 

(2 quad-core processors)

2.66 GHz

  310 secs

Xeon X5365 

(2 quad-core processors)

3.00 GHz

  290 secs

 

 

 

Xeon E5472 

(2 quad-core processors)

3.00 GHz

  260 secs

Xeon X5472

(2 quad-core processors)

3.00 GHz

  260 secs

Xeon X5460

(2 quad-core processors)

3.16 GHz

  250 secs

Xeon X5470

(2 quad-core processors)

3.33 GHz

  230 secs

Xeon X5482

(2 quad-core processors)

3.20 GHz

  230 secs

Xeon X5492

(2 quad-core processors)

3.40 GHz

  220 secs

 

 

 

Xeon X5550 (2 quad-core processors) 2.66 GHZ   240 secs

Xeon X5560  

(2 quad-core processors)

2.80 GHz

  230 secs

Xeon X5570  

(2 quad-core processors)

2.93 GHz

  220 secs

Xeon W5580 

(2 quad-core processors)

3.20 GHz

  200 secs

Xeon W5590 

(2 quad-core processors)

3.33 GHz

  195 secs

Xeon X5677   (2 quad-core processors) 3.47 GHz   188 secs
Xeon X5687   (2 quad-core processors) 3.60 GHz   183 secs
Xeon X5650   (2 six-core processors) 2.67 GHz   162 secs
Xeon X5660   (2 six-core processors) 2.80 GHz   154 secs
Xeon X5670 (2 six-core processors) 2.93 GHz   146 secs
Xeon X5675 (2 six-core processors) 3.06 GHz   140 secs
Xeon X5680* (2 six-core processors) 3.33 GHz   134 secs
Xeon X5690* (2 six-core processors) 3.46 GHz   130 secs

 

 

 

Xeon E5-2660* (2 eight-core processors) 2.20 GHz   129 secs
Xeon E5-2670* (2 eight-core processors) 2.60 GHz   113 secs
Xeon E5-2680* (2 eight-core processors) 2.70 GHz   110 secs
Xeon E5-2690* (2 eight-core processors) 2.90 GHz   104 secs
Xeon E5-2687W* (2 eight-core processors) 3.10 GHz     99 secs

These tests can be quite sensitive to the types of jobs run in AXIS, and to the disk drives and memory systems in the PC. For multiple processors and cores, distributed processing is turned on using the automatic helper option.

Performance Impediments

I also want to draw your attention to some factors that can stand between you and good performance:

  • Hyper-Threading . We strongly recommend that you turn off Intel Hyper-Threading when running on Intel processors. Our testing shows it will adversely affect AXIS run time.
  • Real time virus checking . This can cause a massive slowdown in AXIS run times – up to four times slower. It can also make AXIS unstable, leading to random crashes, since it can lock files AXIS needs to open. We require you to add the directories that AXIS writes to into your exclusion list if you run real time scanning. These directories include the directory where AXIS is installed, the SPARE directory, the Dataset Path and the location of the Import / Export database. For details: www.ggy.com/support/kbase/kbdetails.asp?searchterm=&articleid=271
  • Formula Tables Accelerator . To get the best performance if you are using Formula Tables, remember to turn on the Formula Tables Accelerator.
  • Network bandwidth and latency . We recommend a fast network. We require at least 1Gbps for distributed processing or GridLink. To check whether your network is providing good performance, you can run this simple test. Run an AXIS Calendar Year Recalculation batch job, without distributed processing, on identical datasets residing in two locations – first in the same machine where AXIS is running, and then in a location across the network. If the two times vary by more than 5%, then you have a problem. Please contact GGY for details.

Memory

AXIS needs at least 1GB per processor core. If you are buying a new machine it is better to buy at least 2 GB per processor core.

If you are running GridLink or the StochasticTools module, you will need extra memory. We require at least 2 GB of memory per processor core and recommend 4GB per core.

Please note that even if you have enough memory we strongly advise you to not run any disk or processor intensive applications while performing AXIS runs. AXIS itself is going to use the maximum amount of CPU power and disk access bandwidth available - especially when distributed processing is used. As a result, other applications running concurrent processes may affect performance and cause AXIS to become unstable.

Hard Disks

AXIS allows you to export assumptions and projections. This can take up a lot of disk space. We suggest a minimum of 250 GB for a laptop and 500 GB for a desktop computer, not because AXIS needs this much space, but because these disks are extremely inexpensive today. The AXIS System files take up about 400 MB.

Monitors

AXIS requires a screen resolution of 1024 by 768 (XGA) and preferably much higher.

For a laptop we recommend at least a 14-inch screen and for a desktop at least a 19-inch LCD screen – the bigger the better.

CD-ROM and DVD-ROM

We distribute AXIS and all updates via the Internet. If you do not have a good Internet connection we can supply AXIS on a CD. This CD can be read in any optical drive.

GPGPU (General-purpose computing on graphics processing units)

Our System Design team continues to research, monitor and test emerging technology in the GPGPU space that may be used to accelerate certain AXIS calculations. Currently the serious limitations of this technology in terms of memory, programming language and compiler support are such that it is not practical in AXIS today. The GPGPU technology is evolving rapidly, as is the language and compiler support, so we are optimistic that there will be a point at which we can provide support for GPGPU technology in an effective way. We will continue our research efforts in this area.

Operating Systems

We currently support and recommend Windows XP, Windows 2003 Server, Windows 2008 Server (including R2) and Windows 7. We have found them to be very stable and much easier to manage than previous versions of Windows. We also support Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012.

We require Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 SP1. Version 3.5 SP1 can coexist with earlier versions of the .NET Framework which should not be removed since they may be required for earlier versions of AXIS.

Please note that this component is free of charge and is available for download from Microsoft web site.

Note that Microsoft Windows Operating Systems are available in 32 bit and 64 bit versions. We recommend the 64 bit versions because they allow the use of large amounts of memory, while Windows 7 32 bit, Vista 32 bit and XP 32 bit are limited to 3GB and Windows Server 32 bit Standard Edition and Windows Server 2008 32 bit Standard Edition are limited to 4GB.

Information for IT Professionals

For further information for IT Support click here:  www.ggy.com/faq/techinfo.asp

Recommended Hardware for a GridLink Farm

You may be considering a 12 core farm or a 2048 core farm, or something in between. We strongly recommend you to consider your future needs before setting up even a small farm, so that you can continue to use the hardware you choose now as part of the larger farm you may need tomorrow.

Click here to review the GridLink Hardware Requirements.

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